Retiring after four decades at the UW, Women’s Golf Head Coach reflects on her legacy
Mary Lou Mulflur first stepped onto campus in 1976 as a wide-eyed teenager hoping to hone her golf game while earning her degree. Who knew she’d never leave?
Well, almost never. Washington Athletics’ longest-tenured current employee will retire after this season with an astounding 42 years at the helm.
Her achievements as Head Women’s Golf Coach include making the NCAA Regionals all but once in her career, reaching the NCAA Finals 10 times, and winning the 2016 NCAA National Championship. She has earned three National Coach of the Year titles along with three top coach honors from the Pac-12.
But it’s the people, not the accolades, that have made the biggest impact.
“Here at Washington, it’s not about the what, the winning, it’s about the who. It’s all about you,” she explains. “That’s what Washington stands for. The people here make this place special.”
Mary Lou never dreamed of a career as a coach. She unhappily worked in real estate for a couple years after graduating until she learned about the open UW position.
“My dad asked me if I was going to apply, and I said: Dad, do you know what it pays?” laughs Mary Lou, who became Head Coach in 1983. “But I’d had such a phenomenal experience with my coach [the legendary Edean Ihlanfeldt], who was a mentor to me in golf and in life, that I thought I could try it for a little while.”
To make ends meet, she worked two or three extra jobs until the position went full-time in 1990.
“I was at the end of my rope, but I didn’t want to give it up because I loved it,” Mary Lou reminisces. “I felt like I could make a contribution to a young person’s life.”
And she certainly has. Her alumni have gone on to the LPGA, become college coaches themselves, and otherwise thrived under her influence.
“She’s so much more than a coach, she’s family,” says Paige Mackenzie, a Husky Hall of Fame member and ’06 grad who went pro before becoming a sportscaster. “She leaves such a legacy within college golf. Everyone in the NCAA knows that she’s principled and unafraid to stand up for what’s right.”
The “most profound” change Mary Lou saw throughout the decades “has been my ability to be respected for who I am. I’m now in a place where I can feel comfortable talking about my family and kids” — partner Martha, son William and daughter Lindsey.
How does she view her legacy?
“Remember me as a Dawg for life. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this place. I’m so proud to have focused my entire adult life around being a Husky. It’s been my everything.”
